![Back then when boys were allowed to be boys, and grew up to be real men. [500x639 - 334KB]](https://pic8.co/sh/CSfMaT.png){kind=link}
I knew it was great. I had my yz 125 , all of my friends were white and polite, we could ride in the hills all day long, no phones, hell we didn't even have streetlights, and I had my bb gun strapped to my side.
Amen. Grew up in the canyon lands. We graduated from our Big Wheels and Green Machines to BMX to the mechanized world of dirt bikes, 3 wheelers, odysseys and horses. We were all armed to the tits with bb and pellet guns, fireworks and smoke bombs with which we unleashed blitzkrieg hell upon one and other. Marksmanship, ambushes, stealth, camouflage and shifting alliances. Skill sets that paid real world dividends down life's later road. But it all can be traced back to the primacy of The badass Big Wheel. Glory days.
Oh yeah, the big wheel and BMX. Definitely!!!!
The big wheel with the side brake handle. Playing army and having fun outside all day.
Because of me and my friends, the acreage out behind our place informally became the local minibike/go-kart track. Big boys rules back then. There was never any question of "liability issues". If you showed up, you run what ya brung and it was on you.
Gas (at 27 cents a gallon) was regularly shared out by them what had with thems what hadn't, just to keep things rolling, cause more wheels on the track was more fun. Sometimes there were informal barbecues. They just sprung up. Not all of the coolers had sodas in them.
There was also the occasional "World Championship Dad's Only Go-kart Race". Adult beverages may have been involved in this decision.
Dad gave a nod towards Mom's (justifiable) safety concerns by stacking hay bales in the corners. Otherwise, don't worry. There's a steel wire cattle fence. "That'll stop 'em fer sure." And sometimes? It did. The fact that none of us ever died I take as a testament to God's known fondness for fools and children.
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